Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum (#1) · Issues · Darby Egan / mission-agroenergy-ltd

Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum

It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at business airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.

With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover viable options to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to different types of biofuel.

Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items.

Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.

In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the finest candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and insects, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.

Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to bring out research study and advancement into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical experts for the job.

The current airline company to start try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.

One truly encouraging development has actually been the move away from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers thus avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in vehicles caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.

Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined true blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving simply to please somebody else's green credentials.

It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at business airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae. 
 With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover viable options to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to different types of biofuel. 
 Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items. 
 Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae. 
 In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the finest candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and insects, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil. 
 Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to bring out research study and advancement into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical experts for the job. 
 The current airline company to start try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%. 
 One truly encouraging development has actually been the move away from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers thus avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in vehicles caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing. 
 Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined true blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving simply to please somebody else's green credentials.